Hurricane Florence has become a category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 115 mph as of 11 a.m. Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

NHC reports the hurricane is expected to continue getting stronger.

At 11 a.m., the hurricane was about 1,240 miles out from Cape Fear, North Carolina, and moving west at about 13 mph.

The hurricane is rapidly strengthening, according to the NHC.

Florence is forecasted to remain an "extremely dangerous major hurricane" through Thursday, the day when it's expected to reach the East Coast. During a press conference Monday morning, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper said his state is "in the bull's eye" of the storm.

The center of the hurricane was forecast to move between Bermuda and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday and approach the southeastern coast of the US on Thursday as a Category 3 storm or higher, according to the hurricane center.

Large swells generated by Florence are already affecting Bermuda and portions of the East Coast and will continue this week, the hurricane center said.

"These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents," the National Hurricane Center said.